Archives

Fascist police state: Cops now arresting journalists at OWS protests

A recent New York Police Department (NYPD) sweep at Lower Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park, where hundreds of Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters had been occupying and living in tents, took with it several journalists who were simply there to document what was taking place. CBS 2 News in New York reports that a handful of journalists were arrested along with about 200 OWS protesters, even though they had done nothing wrong.

The New York Daily News (NYDN) reports that during the raid, which cleared the park of all protesters and their belongings, NYPD officers had deliberately restricted press access to the scene. Though they have every right under the US Constitution to be present at such an event, journalists and reporters were denied this freedom (http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york…).

Worse, some of them were actually handcuffed and removed from the scene along with the protesters, even though their presence was for a different purpose. Associated Press (AP) writer Karen Matthews and photographer Seth Wenig were both apprehended, as were Matthew Lysiak from NYDN and Julie Walker from The Root (http://www.theroot.com/views/gettin…).

Upon hearing about the incident, PEN American Center and Pen International, a global literary community devoted to protecting free speech and expression, issued a statement decrying the actions of NYPD in violating First Amendment rights and protections.